May 28, 2015

Hello Bella’s, it’s time to rock this weekend and rock your legs, with the release of the movie Pitch Perfect 2! If you haven’t seen this movie yet you need too! This musical comedy sequel is going to be rock-tacular!

I can’t believe that it has been three years since the Barden Bellas hit the screens, becoming the first all-female group to win a national title! With the world championships on the horizon, the Bella's must get their act together for their one and only shot at redemption, but can they do it? Well, you’re going to have to watch the movie, Pitch Perfect 2 to find that out!

So what are you waiting for pitches, are you ready to rock your legs and see this movie, as I am? Or do you need a little rock your legs inspiration? If so, here is a video to get you… ready, shave and shine! This song is brought to you by is Schick® and Skintimate® brands, as they have partnered up with universal studio’s to show us all how to Rock our legs this summer! This fun creative music video is performed by the a cappella group, The Basic Pitches! Watch as they effortlessly shave, trim and dance their way through Schick’s 3-step leg care regimen. If you’re in the mood for some smooth beats and even smoother legs, check it out now!

With Schick being the sponsor of the Perfect Pitch 2 Movie, they had to bring us some rockin' goodies, right? Well of course they have and these limited edition Pitch Perfect 2 products will have us all grooving and singing goodbye to those winter porcupine legs, and hello to glowing legs that will blow our minds!

So, next time you’re out this week, make sure to pick up some of these limited edition Rock Your Legs Pitch Perfect 2 items. These items that include the Schick Hydro Silk Razors, Skintimate Shave Gel, Schick Intuition®, Schick Quattro For Women® and Schick Xtreme3® are available in stores nationwide!
All Pitch Perfect 2 Limited Edition Shave products will be available beginning April 2015 at drug and grocery stores nationwide.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Schick® and/or St.Ives. The opinions and text are all mine.

May 21, 2015

Disclaimer:This is a sponsored post . All views expressed are my own and were not influenced in anyway.

I’ve always been one to love my beauty regimen. While I know some think it is a daunting task, I find it to be my alone, me time, to escape the world, as well as a bit of pampering. Plus, I’ve always felt when you look your best, you feel your best!

A lot of you have asked me what my daily beauty routine is and do I think there are things that you should always implement? The answer to that is yes and I'm here to share with you my top 5 essentials in my Beauty Routine.

Bath: My beauty routine mostly starts with a nice bath, where it is my escape, a time to relax and indulge in some great beauty products, like feeling fresh with St. Ives and Schick. Especially with the warmer weather getting here, I need to be able to rock my legs!

Skincare: Beauty and skin care go hand in hand, so having this in my routine is a must. The changes our skin has over the years, demands a great skincare regimen. This is why I personally believe that it is never too early to start with a prevention and maintenance plan. So, if you don’t have one in place, you better get one!

Prime your skin: If you follow my blog you know my thoughts on primers, they are a must. Without them, your makeup will sit in your pores, create false wrinkles while leaving a dull appearance...period! On the other hand when you do use a primer, you'll find that your foundation will have a much smoother finish while minimizing the appearance of pores and fine lines.

Mascara: I’ve always said, never underestimate the power of mascara! Even if you don’t go full out on your makeup, every woman needs some mascara! The purpose of makeup is really about defining and accentuating. Mascara is the quickest and easiest way to make you look vibrant, awake, and to define the eyes. And who doesn’t love long luscious eyelashes?

Shaving: This is one of the reasons I am a bath person, as I can shave my legs. I know some of you are like, what? Well let me tell you when you have the right products, you can really rock your legs! And No, don’t borrow you husbands shaving products, indulge in your own! To keep my legs silky smooth I rely on Schick shaving products!

My favorite razor: Yes, I have one and it is the Intuition Razor. This razor comes in the Intuition Revit Moisture Kit. So, when I was approached to be apart of a Schick® promotion, I was like...Most certainly! This razor has four blades for a close shave. And for unbeatable razor protection,
Schicks, Skintinate Shave Gel, in the Strawberry Tangerine Twist formula, leaves me with
smooth, touchable soft skin! (and it smells yummy)

Schick offers some other at-home tools to help personalize your beauty routine, like the Schick Hydro Silk Razor. This bad boy comes with a moisturizing serum that is activated by simply adding water. This feature will provide you with a close shave, as well as the added benefit of quality skin care.

And let’s not forget about bikini season ladies, and this is where the NEW Schick Hydro Silk® TrimStyle® razor comes in handy! It combines the hydrating Hydro Silk razor with a waterproof bikini trimmer for all your bikini area needs.

So there you have it beauties, my Top 5 Essentials Every Woman Should Have In Their Beauty Routine.

BONUS:
I also have a bonus for you, as this post was sponsored by Schick. There is a chance for you to rock your beauty routine & your legs at the movie's, as Schicks Women's Shave is a sponsor of the Pitch Perfect 2. Contest details: Schick will be running a promotion for a FREE movie ticket to see the new blockbuster Pitch Perfect 2 which will be in theaters this month. This promotion will be running in Ahold stores, which includes Stop & Shop, Giant and Martin’s! To participate all you have to make a purchased of Schick women’s shave items...Schick Hydro Silk® Razors, Skintimate® Shave Gel, Schick Intuition® and SchickQuattro For Women®* (any 2 products with a minimum $10 value), and you'll receive a print out at register to redeem a code for their FREE movie ticket. The promotion will run from 4/26-5/23.
All Pitch Perfect 2 Limited Edition Shave products will be available beginning April 2015 at drug and grocery stores nationwide.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Schick® and/or St.Ives. The opinions and text are all mine.

May 12, 2015

Welcome to my second post of many "Staying BEAUTYful", where I will be sharing with you tips from some of the best experts in their field. We will be talking about health, fitness and our overall well being, giving you a great way to kickstart your life in a BEAUTYful way! Today I will be sharing with you some healthy tips for breakfast from Craig Hamilton of Hammer Fitness and Sports Performance. Craig was recently featured in Muscle and Fitness Magazine, sharing The Fastest Way to Get Ready to Lift in The Gym. Today, he is sharing with you some of his tips and viewpoints on the importance of breakfast, helping you to be BEAUTYful, inside & out! So if you are interested in why eating the right breakfast is so important continue reading! Most of us have heard throughout the time that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I am here to tell you that all of your meals are important, especially breakfast. The importance of breakfast is very well deserved and skipping this meal is bad news. Studies have found that people who don’t eat breakfast tend to overeat during the rest of the day and have more overall body fat. After sleeping, your body is drained of its fuel sources, due to overnight fasting. In order to wake the body up, it must be refueled with food.

In addition, research has shown that what you eat at breakfast determines how well your metabolism functions for the rest of the day. The benefits of breakfast are just too good to pass up. It helps you perform and concentrate throughout the day. Eating breakfast gives you energy and helps to keep blood sugar stabilized which helps control your appetite and urges. As busy people, there may seem to be no time for breakfast in the morning, however, breakfast can be as simple as grabbing fruit on the way out the door. Everyone should have time for breakfast. For those of you who don’t like breakfast foods, it’s okay to eat foods that aren’t traditionally eaten in the morning.

May 11, 2015

Skincare prevention and maintenance is essential at all ages, but when you’re in your 40’s & older, you better make sure that you have a plan in action. Hence today, I am going to share with you, my top 5 skincare tips for women in their 40’s!

For this post & part of skincare month, I have partnered up with OZ Naturals, a leader in natural skin care as well as ALLURE MAGAZINE'S Best in skincare company. OZ Naturals was founded, to create healthy, premium skin care products
to help those who weren't naturally born with perfect skin, to obtain
more perfect skin. The kind of skin that everyone deserves to have.

So, if you are looking for some skin care tips that will help to increase the production of collagen, help with cellular turnover, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, as well as giving you a much smoother texture and even a more radiant skin tone, then continue reading!

A Vitamin C serum and a & Hyaluronic acid are a must have in our beauty bag. Aside from complementing our skin with natural ingredients, they also further strengthen our skins durability and protective agents, enabling us to achieve a better, healthier complexion.

Drink Plenty Of Water: Proper hydration is essential for women in their 40’s, so hopefully this is something you’ve been doing for years! When you add drinking plenty of water to your skincare regimen, it can help your skin to look plumper and minimize the signs of aging. Make it a habit of having a glass of water or bottled water near you at all times. IMPORTANT: Once you realize you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated, and no one wants dehydrated skin, so plan ahead!

STOP Skin Hydration NOW!

Moisturizer with an SPF: This is something that we should be doing at any age, but if you neglected it in your younger years, lather up baby! If you get a moisturizer with an SPF, you will save yourself time and money! For an extra boost, you can add it via your makeup too, so keep your eyes open for a tinted moisturizer and a BB cream. A great moisturizer will help to plump up your fine lines and more, so never leave home without it!

Exfoliate: Properly exfoliating your skin is a must if you want healthy, glowing skin. As we get older the process of cell regeneration slows down. Therefore, the body is slower at shedding dead skin cells and generating new ones. If you don’t find a product to help remove the dead skin on your skin's surface, the old skin will start to leave your skin looking dull and dry! Proper exfoliation removes the old skin and uncovers the new cells below the surface!

Sleep: Oh how do we all wish we could be sleeping beauty at one time? But, the importance of having a good night sleep affects our skin. The goal is to have 6-8 hours of sleep at night, doing this can help in replenishing and hydrating our facial skin. On top of the hours of sleep we get, you can help your skin by sleeping on a silk pillow. There is some documented research that shows sleeping on silk pillows can help to prevent aging. Per Dr. Rand, silk contains natural proteins and 18 essential amino acids that also help to counter the effects of aging.

In conclusion, healthy skin comes from taking care of the inside and outside of our bodies. However, finding the right products for our skin can be the toughest part of the equation. But, companies like OZ Naturals can give women in their 40’s the kind of skin you deserve!

May 6, 2015

I am a big of beauty boxes they are all the rage right now. And there are some many out there. So for the next month, each week, I am going to share with you a great Fab box! Which leads me to the first box, FabFitFun! This box has everything you need and why I like it so much is that you get over $200 of beauty, fitness, fashion, lifestyle and home goods seasonally (4 times a year).

The FabFitFun box typically includes items carefully selected by a team of experts! Check out some of the products you get to use.

Now how fab is that? What a great change for a beauty lover (like myself) to indulge in fashion finds, glam beauty secrets, and fab fitness! And did I mention FULL SIZE ITEMS!! See below in the video as the FFF VIP team reveals all of the goodies in the Spring Box!

Psst! Have you signed up for your FabFitFun spring box yet? Don’t miss out on $200+ of beauty, fitness, fashion, lifestyle, and home goods NOW!

May 5, 2015

May is an exciting month, as it is Skincare month. So, today, I’m going to share with you a great way to treat yourself to younger looking skin, by implementing a Hyaluronic Acid Serum into your skincare regimen. Hyaluronic is all the rage right now, you see it everywhere, from cosmetics to the plastic surgeons office! Now don’t let the name fool you as it is not really an acid in the sense as a salicylic acid where it exfoliates your dead skin. Hyaluronic Acid, is a polysaccharide found naturally in the human body, primarily in our skin. Our skin holds about 50% of our body’s hyaluronic acid. Unfortunately, as we get older, we produce less hyaluronic, which can lead to wrinkles, sagging skin and dryness; lovely right?

But no worries as there is a non-evasive product out on the market that can help your skin to retain some of that moisture it has lost and help to plumb & fill out those fine lines. What product is this you ask? Amara Organics Hyaluronic Acid Serum. This refreshing serum quickly hydrates your skin, leaving you feeling vibrant and beautiful!

In addition to locking moisture back into your dry aging skin, this serum helps with some other skincare needs as well! Pleasesee below, some of the other benefits you can receive from using this product…

Boosts collagen production, restoring skin's natural elasticity

Softens and smooths for a more even skin tone

Leaves skin looking radiant and youthful

On top of those wonderful benefits above, the Amara Organics product is infused with powerful antioxidants Vitamins C & E to protect skin from free radicals, helping to gradually reverse some of those nasty signs of aging.

How To Use:

Wash and pat skin dry.

Apply a small amount of serum with fingertips to entire face, neck, and décolettage. Allow to dry.

Follow with a moisturizer.

Can be used daily, morning or night.

IMPORTANT: If layering serums, apply the serum with the thinnest consistency first.

Lastly, one of the things that I have grown to love about the Amara brand is that their products are all 100% Pure Vegan, natural & cruelty free. Plus, Amara stands behind their brand with a hassle free 365-day money back guarantee (no returns necessary).

So there you have, one of my all time favorite skincare products! Now go Treat Yourself to Younger Looking Skin today!

May 4, 2015

Looking pretty can sure cost a lot sometimes! But what if I told you, that some of the common makeup products have multiple uses. Awesome, right? Plus, it can help you save money and time. Especially, if it’s one of those days you need to get out the door quickly, while still looking BEAUTYful! In addition to the many uses to save money, using these products correctly can also help you to save, by getting the most out of your products. See below some of my top favorites beauty hacks, to use makeup in multiple ways…

White Eyeliner Beauty Hacks:
Using the color white near the inner corner of your eyes and your waterline will give the illusion of larger eyes. You can also use a white eyeliner as an illuminator or a white eyeshadow for that extra pop. Additionally, apply as a highlighter on the bridge of your nose and brow bone. Lastly, use it as a primer on your eyes, this will make the colors bold and darker.

Mascara Beauty Hacks:
This can be used to both your eyelashes and eyebrows, used as an eyeliner, as well as covering gray hairs.

Save money by making your mascara last longer:

Apply a non-waterproof mascara first, doing this will help with easy removal.

Place the waterproof mascara on top of the coat of non-waterproof.

Combining the two will give you the benefits of having a great smear proof curled lash, which will last all day, with easy removal.

Lipstick Beauty Hacks:Use lipstick as a blush, concealer and the apparent, on your lips! Depending on the color, it can also be use on your eyes!

While I don’t need to explain how to use your lipstick as a blush or as an eyeshadow. I’m sure you're wondering how in the heck can I use lipstick as a concealer?! Well, lipstick works wonders on getting rid of dark under eye circles. Keep in mind you can’t use any color of lipstick; you need to consider your skin tone. If you have darker skin, bright orange-red lipstick works best when trying to conceal. Why does this work? Think of a color wheel, where colors can neutralize each other. Dark circles usually appear as blue or green. Using a bright orange-red color, which is the opposite on a color wheel, helps to counteract the darkness, hence minimizing the appearance of dark circles.

Eyeliner Pencil:
Use this bad boy as an eyeliner, brow liner, eyeshadow for a smoking eye look and to contour your nose (use brown for the nose). Eyeliner is also an excellent way to making your eyelashes appear thicker. By just applying some black eyeliner to the upper waterline.

Bronzer Beauty Hacks:
This one takes the cake! As it can be used as an eyeshadow, to contour and applied to your cheeks. The best one for bronzer is using it to make your eyelashes appear thicker. By dusting your lashes with it before applying your mascara. This will allow the mascara to adhere to the lashes, building thickness. This is an excellent DIY approach to the fiber formula mascaras! Just 90% cheaper!

Blush Beauty Hacks:
Aside from the obvious, which is applying to your cheekbones, this little beauty works wonders on your lips. You can mix it with a gloss or even layer it with another color to create a shimmer lip color. It also works fabulously as an eye shadow.

Face Primer Beauty Hacks:
Primer allows your makeup to adhere better and last longer, with little transparency and minimal fading. Also, if you have a terrific primer, it will prevent creasing and false wrinkles. Instead of purchasing many different primers, I use a face primer for my face, lips and eyes!

Eyeshadow Beauty Hacks:
Depending on the color of the shadow, you can create a variety of looks with this.

Dark colors:

Can be used as an eyeliner

To hollow your cheeks

Fill in your eyebrows

Mix with a gloss for a lipstick

Blush (if it’s in the brown or pink family)

Contour cheeks

Add to clear nail polish to make a colored polish.

Cover Grays

Light colors: A highlighter to both your cheekbone and brow bone

Dry Shampoo Beauty Hacks:
This item is a must have in my hair arsenal! Not only does it absorb the oil in your hair, but it also gives your hair extra volume and lift. The hack to getting the most of this is always to apply dry shampoo in the beginning when it is clean, at the roots. Why wait till it’s dirty, this too gives you a few more days of hair. Another use of dry shampoo, apply it to a bobby pin before your up-do, it will give it a better grip!